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TSR Wiki > University > Choosing a University > University Guides > University of Reading

The Univeristy of Reading is thought of as a traditional university. It achieved university status in 1925 having been founded as the Schools of Art and Science (1860 and 1870) for Christ Church College of the University of Oxford. The Universities main campus is the Whiteknights Campus which includes a lake, park land and woodlands. Two smaller campuses also exist: the London Road Campus and Bulmershe Court Campus in Woodley.

Facilities

Libraries

The university has two main libraries - the Main Library on Whiteknights campus has books for all students at all levels while the Bulmershe Library, situated on Bulmershe Court Campus, covers education, health, social care, art, film and drama.

The uni also has an archives library and a map library with over 70,000 maps!

You can get services including black and white and colour photocopying, binding and computer access in the library. The Main Library has over 80 PCs and scanner and printer s for student use as well as being wireless throughout (though you are warned that some areas have poor access to the wireless network due to the 'furniture' - you should move around and find a decent signal before setting up your laptop to work). The Bulmershe Library also has PCs, printers and a scanner, but does not have wireless.ch

IT and Computing

The Uni has a large number of places you can get PC use. Around the uni there are over 600 workstations, some of which you can use 24 hours a day. You can also get broadband access in university halls and there are some wireless connections around campus (such as in the library), though not all of campus is covered by this.

The computing services have Microsoft Office on it's PCs and provide printing and scanning facilities.

You can also brush up on your computing skills too with a drop in training sessions and online training that proves useful.

Sports

If you're into sports you'll love the facilities at Reading - they are some of the best in the country. The facilities at the Sports Park include

• huge fitness centre (with 89 workstations!)
• indoor multipurpose courts
• outdoor pitches for Rugby and Cricket etc
• tennis courts (including some grass)
• squash courts
• dance/martial arts studio
• floodlit hockey/football pitch
• water sports on the River Thames

The uni keeps these pitches and courts in top condition which adds to the quality of the sport played on them.

Over all there are probably over 50 sports clubs and you can play at all levels from just for fun to local teams and university teams in the BUSA leagues.

Reading is also one of a few unis in the country which offer sports scholarships - these provide assistance with your training and free sports access at the uni, amongst other benefits.

Welfare

There are many ways you can get Welfare help, so there is no need to feel worried or alone without getting the support you need.

The uni offers a counseling service (including a drugs counsellor) and like at the medical centre, you can quite quickly get appointments. The Student's Union also has an advice team for welfare issues.

Nightline is a SU run overnight phone line (other unis have them too) where volunteers can help on a range of issues. It's run by students, so why not also volunteer to man the phones once in a while?

Healthcare

The healthcare centre is just off campus, and from what i hear, is pretty fast at fitting you in. When you register in the first week, they give a quick check over and arrange for any appointments you need - ie getting you to have a chat to an asthma nurse, contraception nurse, whatever is relevant. They seem very organised!

As well as the GP services at the health centre on main campus, Bulmershe Court Campus has a it's own medical centre.

Shops

The main Whiteknights campus is not far from the town centre - it can be walked if you are particularly energetic! Buses run frequently (and on time) from all around the edge of the campus. There are small shopping avenues dotted around the edge of campus too. These include small shops, banks, pharmacies and bakeries.

The Union also has a shop - R U Being Served? This has most things you will need - food, drinks, sandwiches, snacks, alcohol, medicines, stationary, birthday cards, DVD rentals, pick 'n' mix and magazines. There is also a Blackwell's bookshop on campus to purchase course texts.

Restaurants

Reading University has 'Cafe Mondial' which is a small cafe serving cakes, salads, sandwiches and drinks. 'Mojos' is a pub/bar which sells really good lunches and meals in the evenings. There is also a restaurant on site called 'Cedars' which has loads of food. You often find people have lunch here.

Reading town has 'Riverside' which is lined with restaurants, including Wagamamas, Yo Sushi, Bella Italia, The Slug and Lettuce, Nando's, Pizza Express, Chillis, and many, many more. A taxi from Whiteknights campus to Riverside can be as little as £5 a journey. There's quite a few little restaurants dotted around the rest of the town centre too. Reading has pretty much every chain restaurant that there is and several branches of some of them (e.g. 2 x Pizza Express, 2 x Bella Italia, 2 x Nandos). It also has individual restaurants for more sophisticated dining, such as when your parents come to visit; these include the London Street Brasserie, the Malmaison, Forbury's restaurant & wine bar, Cerise at the Forbury Hotel, and Eden at the Forbury Hotel. Berkshire can claim many delightful country pubs and some of the best restaurants in the world (e.g. the Waterside Inn and the Fat Duck in Bray).

Banks

In the centre of Whiteknights Campus, near the library, is a Lloyds cash point that can be used by anyone. A couple of minutes walk from the Uni sports centre is a Natwest machine (on Shinfield Road). Most other banks have branches and machines in town somewhere, but since most machines will give you money for free, you'll be fine to get money out with any account.

Transport

The University is well served with local bus services and national rail services. To get to and from the main campus there are regular bus services. Nationally, the train station in Reading has links to many cities with trains to London Paddington taking just 30 minutes, so a trip in to London is an easy option for a day out.

Careers service

Part-time jobs

There is the uni job shop where you can find adverts for part time work and there are loads of pubs/bars/shops etc in the town centre. The SU also has a load of jobs, but they are usually very popular and hard to get.

Religious facilities

The uni has a diverse religious community. There is a Christian Chaplaincy that offer help and care to people of all faiths. It is situated in a building where regular prayer can take place and has facilities for more social occasions. There is also a Muslim centre which is run by the Muslim Society which ca be used for daily prayer. There are also links with other religious groups within the Reading area and other student groups on campus too.

Mobile Application (UniApp)

Two students have also built a free mobile phone application, the "University of offering very useful links, maps and contacts regarding the University of Reading. This can be found searching "University of Reading" in the app store on an iOS (iPhone/iPad) or Android device.

Reading Discussions

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Social

Bars, Pubs and clubs

Nightlife has definitely picked up in the last few years with the main clubs being:

Sakura (Japanese themed club - Skint Mondays huge student night and busiest on a Monday great drink deals)

Q (always packed, propaganda on a thursday or exposed on friday best nights),

Vodka Revs (main nights Vudu mondays, party love tuesday or club tropicana friday),

Club Evissa (formely Dogma) (main night religion on saturday and party love on friday which is always full really early) ,

Lola Lo (Polynesian themed club - over 21 on friday and saturday but packed with 18+ on weekdays - mainly tuesdays and thursdays)

Rewind (cheesy 80s/90s)- busy on saturday

Sub89(indie and alternative)

Yates - main nights friday and saturday

Some smaller clubs like BED, Revival, Deja Vu and Afterdark.

Always end up in Purple Turtle which is the last club open til around 4am or the casino which is 24/7.

Plenty of good pubs in town (Pavs -£1 pints), Hope Tap and Monks always busy especially before a night out, Upin Arms, Back of Beyond, The Turks to name the better ones).

All Bar One, Slug and Lettuce, Cape and Pitcher & Piano great places for "quieter" nights/cocktails.

The Students Union at 360 every Wednesday and Saturday get boring after a while, but to be quite honest as long as you don't milk it too much and go EVERY single time you'll be okay.

Every Friday from 9p.m-2a.m Bulmershe has its own 'club'- Breeze Bar, which plays cheesy music and the odd contemporary tune. However, for £2 (with an N.U.S. card) £4 (guests, non-N.U.S. card holders) it doesn't break the bank. However, it's probably best to get there after 11 because it's pretty dead before then...

If you're in to rock/emo/punk music, then there are plenty of options. Sakura runs a rock and indie night on Mondays on the bottom dancefloor alongside Skint Monday's upstairs and Sub89 is predominately indie and alternative music. The Face Bar runs RELOADED on Friday and Afterdark is also very punk/rock. Saturdays has The Turks (a pub that plays rock/metal and has live bands) and The Face bar (for classic rock night - sometimes called timebomb). Plug n Play is the place for live bands/gigs.

Events

Clubs and societies

There are over 100 clubs at Reading, including over 50 sports clubs - a large number for any university. So you'll find something for you, whether it's agriculture, cocktails, lock picking or video games!

Accommodation

Accommodation policy

The university has a huge amount of student accommodation compared to many unis - over 5000 places. So if you want a place in your first year, you'll almost certainly get one if you apply in time. You'll be sent an accommodation application form once you've selected Reading as your firm choice and have until 1st August to send it back to be guaranteed a place.

Insurance choice students are still likely to get a place too, though it might not be in your first choice of accommodation as many places will already be taken up.

Postgraduate students are also likely to get accommodation. Again 1st August is a deadline date where you can be guaranteed accommodation if you want it. As well as sending the form back by they you also need to have met the conditions of your application by then. If you haven't don't worry, you could still get accommodation, but priority first goes to international students.

All in all, Reading is great for getting in to accommodation you want and is relatively stress free in terms of worrying about if you'll get a place or not when compared to many unis.

Facilities

Each Hall has it's own laundry room. The machines are larger than a normal domestic one and there are dryers as well. Make sure you have change to put in the machines. usually costs between about £1.20 and £2 for a load of washing depending on where you are.

Residences

Mackinder Hall: Mackinder Hall is due to open in October 2010 ready for the start of the academic year.

It is largely a new development of 562 en-suite rooms arranged in 8 bedroomed flats each with a fully equipped shared self-catering kitchen.

-Each new block has several flats arranged over 4 or 5 floors with lift access to all floors. -Located on the edge of Whiteknights campus, just a short walk to academic buildings. -The study bedrooms have 4 foot wide beds, fitted furniture and a range of storage including under bed storage. -Data points in all rooms for access to the University network and internet (included in the Accommodation fees). -Part of the Park Group of Halls and a few minutes walk from the Park Group Reception and Social Building (where you will find large laundry, bike shed and post boxes). -Close to the Park Group Catering and Bar Facility which will offer a central meeting point to have a snack or meal, meet friends for a drink or check emails via Wi-Fi. -Term time only (31 weeks), Term time plus vacations (39 weeks) and Whole year residency periods available. The residency periods include Freshers week.

Wessex Hall:

self catered with corridor layout rather than flats. kitchens refurbished in 2005 (i believe) as it used to be catered accommodation. situated right by the lake (gorgeous!) in the top right hand corner of the campus. about a 10 minute walk to the centre of campus

swipe card access to the building, with keys for your room and your kitchen. shared postbox for each letter of the alphabet (also key access) - parcels kept securely in reception to be picked up with I.D.

good sized bedrooms with sinks, big wardrobes (very old ones!), huge pinboard, four big shelves, normal sized desk and a decent sized single bed

around 8-10 people to a kitchen, plenty of storage, two fridges and freezers, and also two ovens, two sets of hobs and two sinks. vacuum cleaner kept in kitchen which people can use on their rooms

cleaners empty your room bins twice a week, but other than that do not come in your room (we put out bins in the corridor to stop them coming in at all). they clean the kitchens twice weekly as well, and empty the kitchen bins most days. toilets, showers and corridor are cleaned daily as well.

a couple of shower rooms on each floor - each room has four showers and a bath (?!) in separate locking cubicles. i have never even encountered anyone in the shower room, let alone had to wait to use a shower!

same goes for toilets - we have a pair of toilets along our bit of the corridor, but there's quite a few sets around each floor. ours is unisex, but you only have to walk round the corner if you wanted a single sex toilet.

good bar with jukebox/games machines, friendly staff, and a large projector which shows football matches and anything else popular, alternatively it shows films some nights

TV room with sky channels, four big sofas and lots of little chairs

laundry has four washing machines and four tumble driers - £1.40 for a wash and £1 for a dry. 2 irons and ironing boards in the laundry room which are free to use, also a reasonable sized sink which you could use for handwashing clothing items

quick warning - there are no aerial sockets to plug TVs into. the signal here is not great, some people have managed to get signal with portable aerials, but i would definitely recommend waiting until you're here before you buy a TV license - try it out first!

a two minute walk out of the campus will get you to a bus stop on the number 17 route (one of the main routes in reading). you can get to town in about 15 minutes (bus lanes are fantastically useful!) each journey is £1.50, regardless of where you are going - or £2.90 for a return ticket. the machines only take exact change though

St Patrick's

The corridors are mixed (except M block which is girls only!). All the bathrooms however are single sex and on the ground floor. There are 3 floors. Kitchens on every floor for each 'block'.

Each corridor is massive, however this is split into blocks. There may be 3 blocks on one long corridor for example. At a guess, I would say there was no more than 30 rooms on a corridor.

Whiteknights Hall

Some rooms are en-suite, but shared bathroom and toilets are within very easy reach of other rooms. The rooms can be big too and the hall has great food compared to some other places!

Windsor

Windsor's great. Good room sizes, lots of people on our corridors so you'll make friends no problem. Food is supposedly best on campus..gets a bit boring after a while though! It's also nearest to the main lecture buildings! It's also right next to the main post depot thing so if you get mail, you haven't got far to go. Communal showers and bathrooms really are OK once you get used to it too!

Wantage

It's the original accommodation, built back in 1908 when Reading University was still an extension college of Oxford University. It's built in the style of an Oxbridge college, with an absolutely gorgeous quad. Indeed some people know it as 'the Harry Potter' Hall for this reason! Wantage has far more formals than any other Hall, all of which involve eating in the extremely atmospheric dining hall. Freshers' Dinner, Founder's Dinner, Christmas Formal, Burns' Night - the list goes on... There are also various traditions, such as Sheep Night and numerous special events organised by the JCR committee. Because it's quite a small Hall, there's a very friendly atmosphere, which is great - Wantage is famous for its community spirit.

Most Freshers live in New Court which is arranged into long corridors, providing a social and friendly atmosphere. Returners and some Freshers live in Old Court, with rooms surrounding the quad. These rooms tend to be slightly bigger than the New Court rooms but certain blocks tend to be a lot quieter than others, mind you this varies from year to year. The bathrooms are cleaned every day and there are enough so that you don't have to wait. The rooms are: a shared room with sink (you won't be put in one of these unless you ask to be), a single room without a sink, a single room with sink and a better room with sink. All the rooms are based along corridors with the Old Court rooms split into blocks A-F around the quad.

As Wantage is one of the smaller halls, there is a great community spirit and a lot of Hall Pride. Wantage has many traditions as mentioned above which can not be found in any other hall at the university. Wantage does have a reputation of being the "posh" hall, but don't let that put you off, most of us are normal! Wantage has a fierce rivalry with St Pats and this results in great nights out involving chants, colour wars of burgundy vs green and of course banter.

Childs

The rooms & Corridors are smaller than average, but by no means small. I think as long as you live with nice people & you have a good time, the size & quality of the place is irrelevant. The pantries, although a bit crappy are well equipped and do the job well enough.

This hall is by far the most social of all the halls here, holds around 400 students, and has exactly the same layout as bridges hall. When it was first build in the late 1960s, it was a male only hall and now is mixed. The Hall is catered with only 30 weeks residency, but there is an extension block which offers 38 week residency, and is self catered (normally for post grads and third years). The units are separated into A-UNIT to L-UNIT, and have roughly around 25 rooms, in which there are 2 bathrooms (one for girls and one for guys), in which there are 3 toilets, 1 shower, 2 tubs and a urinal.

Each unit has a pantry, which consists of 2 fridges, 1 freezer, a toaster, a kettle and a cooker (with oven and grill). In my experience this is the most social area of each unit.

The hall overlooks whitenights lake, and its a few minutes walk to the centre of campus. With regard to meals, the university offers 19 meals a week (no dinner on weekends) and this place have found a million uses for potatoes!

If you want the true university experience please come to childs!!!

Note: Childs Hall will be closed October 2010 and will be renovated/rebuilt.

Bridges Hall Note: Bridges Hall will be closed October 2010 and will be renovated/rebuilt.

Sherfield Hall

Hillside/Martindale

Bulmershe

The main halls of residence which surround the quad, including Mitford and Winchcombe usually house 8 students, however, the corridors along the bottom house 6 students are all en-suite (as far as I know). The shower room contains a shower (no bath), sink, cabinet and a toilet and is a fairly good size, however, the shower water goes onto the floor as there is no where for it to be stored, i.e. a bath, so don't leave anything on the floor when you have a shower. The bedrooms are also a fairly good size and come complete with a desk chair, a desk, wardrobe, chair, bed (with storage underneath), mattress, cupboards above the wardrobe for storage and a shelf over the door for storage. There is also a bedside table which comes with a lamp. The room is also equipped with a TV aerial socket, as well as an internet socket. You are given and internet cable when you move in.

The other halls on campus, including Blackstone, as far as I know do not have an en-suite, and I also believe many people living in them are part-catered and eat in the dining room on campus.

The kitchen is a good size and, because many of the halls are catered, it comes with 2 ovens, complete with electric hobs, a microwave, a toaster, 2 fridge/freezers, plenty of cupboard storage for everyone to have at least 2 cupboards each, an ironing board, iron, mop and bucket, a broom, 2 bins for general waste and a bin for recyclable materials. There is a glass recycling facility beside Breeze bar. Be warned, you need to recycle your glass yourself. If any glass is left in the kitchen at the end of term you can be fined... The kitchen bins/kitchen and bedroom bins are emptied twice a week, although you are expected to clean up after yourselves/ not let the kitchen get too messy otherwise the cleaners will not clean the kitchen. The kitchen also has a table and chairs where you can socialise/ eat if you so wish. There are also tabletops to prepare food, etc. You will need to provide your own cutlery, plates, pans, etc. as the kitchen is not equipped with very much.

There is a large patch of grass which can be used to play football, etc. There is also a field at the back of the campus which can be used for sports and is where football matches take place.

Woodley is not far from Bulmershe, where there is an Iceland, Waitrose, Boots, Clinton Cards, Superdrug, various newsagents, Oxfam charity shop (books and clothes), New Look and another clothing shop, cafe and various takeaways/ smaller shops, as well as a pub. The town centre is a fair walk, however, the number 63 stops right outside the campus and it will take you into town. I also believe ASDA and Tesco deliver to the campus if you shop online. However, there is a small conveniance shop on campus- "Bully's" which is a smaller version of RUBS on the Whiteknights campus.

Like the other halls of residence there is a JCR as well as a small bar- Breeze Bar which hosts "Breezing through the Decades"- a club which opens from 9p.m to 2a.m on a Friday (£2. NUS, £4 for guests and non-NUS card-holders).

The laundrette on campus has a number of washing machines and driers. The washing machine costs £1.40, however, you need to use a £1 coin and two 20p coins... The tumble drier costs £1. However, you need to supply your own washing liquid/ powder as it is not provided in the laundrette.

Sibly

It was a good size with a wash basin looked good . Although it did look a bit of a dump as everything was grey and old. But don't be put off by the look of the place. cos at the end of the day its not gonna kill you if your rooms badly decorated. It's also far from most other uni buildings. As for the food, if you go determined to dislike the food then you will. It was perfectly reasonable in my mind, and hey, if you don't like it, you don't have to eat it or you can move to a different hall.

Private sector

The Student Village

A University Partnerships Programme (UPP) development

There are 384 study bedrooms with private bathrooms. The bedrooms are arranged into six person self-contained flats sharing kitchen/dining facilities. A variety of room types are available, including: standard private bathroom; enhanced private bathroom (equipped with higher quality furnishings); and room with double bed. Data points in all rooms. Laundry. Computer room linked to the University network. Walking distance to Whiteknights campus and close to shops and bus routes. 39 week, 40 week and 50 week residency periods available.

St George's Hall

Also a University Partnerships Programme (UPP) development

There are 301 rooms with en suite bathrooms, 107 rooms with own washbasin and 25 studios. All rooms are self-catering - shared kitchen/dining facilities. Located next to Whiteknights campus, a few minutes walk from most of the academic buildings on campus. Laundry. Data points in all rooms. Computer room. Some single sex corridors available. 39 week and 50 week residency periods available.

Student union

There is a great SU building at Reading. It houses the following:

The Hub - the main 'office' for the SU and a place to get welfare advice, find out about support services and see what volunteer opportunities there are.

R U Being Served - the great little shop for snack food and you can get stationary and your uni branded clothing. (Bulmershe campus also has a similar, but smaller shop).

Mojo's Bar' - food, drink, pool, big screen TV.

3sixty - nightclub

Cafe Mondial - cafe for sandwiches, cakes and coffee.

Wicked Juice Bar

Prices

Tickets are cheap - £3 NUS or £5 guest for a normal union night. The place is usually packed - especially on nights like Halloween. The silent disco in freshers week is definitely a highlight and good value for money!

Drinks are expensive if you're looking to buy spirits - around £3.80 for a double with mixer - but drinks like snakebite or wine are pretty cheap though, at about £2 a go

Bus prices in Reading, particularly on the main bus routes, are £1.70 for a single ticket and £3.20 for a return. However, a bus-a-bout costs £3.20 and you can basically use almost any bus in Reading in a day, which is pretty useful if you forget something, also it is more convenient to buy the bus-a-bout then a return ticket as they cost the same.

You can apply for a Reading passport (obtainable from Reading libaries) which is basically a card which enables you to get discounts from various shops. It's available to all members of the Reading borough.

Environment

The university is situated on a nice campus with a lake in the middle of it. It provides a pleasant place to live and study.

Architecture

Local area

Reading is surrounded by various towns and is in close proxemity to London (25 minutes via train)

Reading town itself is packed with various chains, as well as two shopping centres- The Oracle and Broad Street Mall. The Oracle houses a large array of clothes shops, such as Topshop, Topman, Gap, H&M, Oasis, French Connection, Ben Sherman, New Look+ many more, as well as two major deparment stores- Debenhams and House of Fraser, as well as shoe shops, card shops, Boots, The Disney Store, HMV, Mamas and Papas, Thorntons, various eating places and a Starbucks. The main 'high street' houses various chains such as Marks and Spencers, Fat Face, mobile phone shops, Woolworths and various other stores. There's also a Primark opposite Broad Street Mall.

Teaching quality

Reading has a reasonably high position in league tables and has a very good reputation as a university for the standards of it's teaching and research. Certain subjects, like English, Psychology and archaeology, are rated particularly high.

Applying to Reading

Thinking of applying to Reading? Why not read some Personal Statements which were used for applying here?

Other Reading Articles

Why not read these other Reading Articles?

• Personal Statements

Links

• Our University of Reading Discussion Forum
• University of Reading Homepage
• A-Z of Universities